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EXPORT PRICE CUT TROUBLES CANADA

OTTAWA, June 7—Canadi­an exporters have won a major battle for access to the United States market—but they may have lost a war so far as pro­tection of their own domestic market is concerned.

That, in brief, is the view of Federal Government trade experts on the recent decision of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in Washington upholding the right of Acme Steel Company of Canada to value its exports to the United States market at 30 per cent below its domestic sales prices without being held in violation of dumping regulations.

Acme of Canada, Ltd., which is the subsidiary of Acme Steel Company of Chicago, defended its right to price its United States export sales at 30 per cent below its Canadian list prices on the grounds that, in respect to its export business, it did not have the advertising, selling, and servicing costs that it had to meet in the domestic market.

While technically an appeal could be made to the United States Supreme Court, Govern­ment circles here consider that the American customs authori­ties, having lost before three tribunals. are unlikely to do it. The United States Supreme Court is said to have heard only two customs cases in its his­tory.

In a market in which Canada is currently incurring an annual merchandise deficit of more than half a billion dollars, the Acme ruling is recognized among Government‐trade au­thorities as of top importance. The improvement in the com­petitive position of prices on Canadian goods in the United States is expected to be at least substantial and quite possibly spectacular.

The other side of the coin, which Federal trade authorities recognize, is that the principle which the Acme Company has defended successfully is precise­ly the one for which British exporters have been contending in the long battle they have been waging against existing Canadian antidumping laws.